Further Reading

"Google increases choice for European consumers and offers valuable opportunities for businesses of all sizes," wrote company general counsel Kent Walker in a Google blog post. "Economic data spanning more than a decade, an array of documents, and statements from complainants all confirm that product search is robustly competitive."

Targeted search like shopping searches are a reflection of the need to go beyond a "10 blue links" model and keep up with competitors, Walker wrote. He says that the European Commission's Statement of Objections (SO) doesn't take into account the impact of some of Google's biggest competitors, shopping services like eBay and Amazon.

In addition to showing it's going to dig in for a long legal fight, Google has gone on the offensive on the PR front as well. The company published a video in which its engineers explain the changes to its shopping search system over time.

Walker argues that "structured search," like the search below for running shoes, isn't anti-competitive. Rather, it "demonstrably improves ad quality and makes it easier for consumers to find what they’re looking for," he writes.

"We believe that the SO's preliminary conclusions are wrong as a matter of fact, law, and economics," Walker concludes.

Several Google rivals, including Microsoft, Oracle, and travel search companies like Expedia, have been advocating that Google uses its "search monopoly" to thwart competition. They have organized under the group FairSearch.

The New York Times quotes European officials and industry sources, saying that a final decision in the antitrust brawl is expected "late this year, at the earliest."